WEST INDIAN VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS 



207 



It is scarcely a cause for wonder then, that these minor mani- 

 festations, with their spectacular appearance, were early regarded 

 as originating from lateral craters connected with the main vents. 

 From the location of these outbursts in stream beds it came to 

 be reported that St. Pierre had probably been destroyed by a 

 lateral crater in the bed of the Blanche river. 9 



sea. Half buried houses in foreground are close to the old shore line. 



The particular eruption witnessed in the Wallibou took place 

 about an hour after the beginning of a very heavy tropical rain 

 which sent sand-filled water in sheets down over the sea cliffs 

 and changing valleys. The river, which had maintained a mere 

 showing of water, became a steaming torrent several feet in 

 depth, instigating the explosion. 



I was within the valley of the Seche in the mud flow of 

 June 24, when returning from an ascent to the crater of Pelee 

 from the St. Pierre side, and saw in the bed of the avalanche- 

 swept stream below, which we had just crossed in ankle-deep 



'A. Heilprin, McClnre's, August, 1902; R. T. Hill, Century Magazine, Sep- 

 tember, 1902; George Kennon, Outlook, Vol. LXXI. 



